Thursday, October 23, 2014

It’s name literally translates into - the place of
roses – it is 72 km, in the East
Karakoram and is one of the longest
glaciers in the Himalaya and Karakoram. It has number of peaks, side valleys
and at its head lies the Indira Col, the divide between South and Central Asia.
The Nubra river drains the glacier and ultimately joins the Shyok river near
Khalsar. A few years back, when I
happened to travel with a soldier in Tamil Nadu Express – he was returning home
after serving a stint over there – a few words made sure that in life others
should never complain – he said, that many end up killed either by snow or
driven mad by the loneliness – with nearest soldier miles away, food coming
once a while – it is harrowing beyond imagination.

The Great Indian Army fights adversities on borders
as well as with natural calamities. The major feature of this army is that it
combats in hot, chilly, temperate, forestry, terrain. One best example is the Siachen
glacier where the Indian soldiers guard the border at -80 degree Celsius and
braving the hot climate conditions in the Thar desert, at plus 50 degrees. "But cold kills more troops than
bullets. Soldiers brought down to base camp often suffer hearing, eyesight and
memory loss because of prolonged use of oxygen masks. Many lose eyes, hands or
feet to frostbite. " Cheetah helicopters fly in to retrieve wounded or
sick soldiers and drop supplies to their comrades, who remain behind on the
lonely promontories. The enemy is hard to see in the crags and craters in the
vast whiteness -- and harder to hit. Rifles must be thawed repeatedly over
kerosene stoves, and machine guns need to be primed with boiling water. At
altitudes of 18,000 feet, mortar shells fly unpredictable and extraordinary
distances, swerving erratically when met by sledgehammer gusts. While some troops
fall to hostile fire, far more perish from avalanches and missteps into
crevasses that nature has camouflaged with snow. This is especially so now in
springtime, as the sun licks away several feet of ice and opens new underground
cracks and seams.

"After 50 strides, even a well-conditioned man
is gasping for breath with his muscles in a tremble. Seventeen years of refrigerated
combat have brought only 17 years of hardened stalemate. The Pakistanis cannot
get up to the glacier; the Indians cannot come down." The Siachen Glacier has claimed the lives of
over 8,000 Indian and Pakistani soldiers between April 1984 and April 2012.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid a
surprise visit to Siachen to celebrate Diwali with soldiers posted at the
world’s highest battlefield and hailed the role of the armed forces in securing
the country. Before reaching Srinagar, he went to Siachen early in the morning
and spent more than an hour with the soldiers at a base camp situated at a
height of over 12,000 feet.

He praised their valour and courage, saying that
125 crore Indians could celebrate Diwali, and go about their lives in comfort,
because the jawans stood guard at the borders, prepared to make every sacrifice
for the nation. From the icy heights, he also extended Diwali greetings to
President Pranab Mukherjee. Mr. Modi told the jawans that he had come
unannounced, and they may be surprised, but one does not need to announce
arrival when coming to one’s own family.